Effective treatment of painkiller addiction
Individuals addicted to prescription painkillers are more likely to succeed in treatment with the aid of the medication buprenorphine-naloxone (Suboxone), report McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School researchers in Monday’s online edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry. “Adjunctive Counseling During Brief and Extended Buprenorphine-Naloxone Treatment for Prescription Opioid Dependence,” is the first large-scale study to address treatment of prescription opioid addiction. According to lead author Roger Weiss, chief of the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse at McLean Hospital, most studies examining treatments for opioid dependence have been done with heroin-dependent patients at methadone clinics, resulting in the lack of data on treatment for patients addicted to prescription painkillers, especially in the offices of primary care doctors. “Despite the tremendous increase in the prevalence of addiction to prescription painkillers, little research has focused on this patient population,” said Weiss, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “This is notable because...